4 injured as APRC, Busumbala residents clashed

At
least four people have been reported injured as supporters of the opposition
Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) clashed with
residents of Busumbala village on Thursday morning in the West Coast Region.

There
was massive damage to properties. Parties involved in the violence were armed
with cutlasses among other weapons, eyewitnesses say. Vehicles had their
windscreens smashed into pieces.

The
four injured people were referred to Brikama Hospital at the time of going to
press, however, one among them was later referred to Edward Francis Small
Teaching hospital in Banjul in the evening due to the gravity of his wound.
Some eyewitnesses at the incident say it is beyond politic as they related it
to tribal connotation.

Six youths of Busumbala were arrested during
the incident by personnel of the Police Intervention Unit (PIU), however, they
were later released, The Point has been informed.

Traffic
was put to halt as some angry youths were seen throwing stones and burning
motor tyres on the road. Shopkeepers within the main Birkama-Serrekunda Highway
were forced to close their shops due to the magnitude of incident.

PIU
personnel used tear-gases to the unruly youths in order to disperse them. Some
youths were also hunting vehicles looking for people that were APRC T-shirts
and insults were raining from all over the place.

The
director general of the State Intelligent Services (SIS), the commander of the
ECOMIG Forces in The Gambia, the deputy Inspector General of Police, the deputy
Chief of Defense Staff including the
national security adviser were all seen at the scene.

Speaking
to reporters at Busumbala, the national security adviser Office of the
President, Momodou Badgie describe the incident as “unfortunate” in the sense
that the new dispensation has found lots of issue on the ground.

“We
are working tirelessly, and I am sure, such kind of incidents will never occur
again. It is an internal security matter and political for that matter.
Investigation is ongoing currently as I am speaking to you. We don’t want to
say so much as the investigation is going,” he stated.

Badgie
added that President Barrow together with the National Security Council are so
much concern about the incident. “We don’t think the New Gambia needs no
political fracas. What we need is democracy where all political players will
have space to do everything with freedom and liberty. Democracy is all about
that and anything that is violence will be dealt with accordingly and the only
way it can be dealt with is to start investigation and all those culprits
should be dealt with according to the law,” he posited.

The
national security adviser Office of the President, added that no stone will be left
unturned. “Those that are wounded have been taken to hospital, thus it is
additional clear evidence. He made it clear, saying “we are we are going to
court straight but there are stages and steps that will be taken to ensure that
we solve this matter amicably,” he stated.

The
deputy CDS Yankuba Drammeh, said the peace and tranquility that the country is
known for in Africa and beyond should be maintained. He added that conflict
provokes and unprovoked.

He
said once conflict escalates, everyone directly or indirectly will fall a
victim of that conflict. In order words it is in our collective interest to
preserve the peace and tranquility of the country. “If we allow conflict to
creep in, virtually everybody is a loser directly or indirectly,” he said. “So
we should work towards maintaining the peace and tranquility of this country
irrespective of our political affiliations among others.”

The commander of the ECOMIG Forces in The
Gambia, Maget Njie also described the Busumbala incident as ‘unfortunate’. The
democracy in The Gambia, he added, is at advanced stage, noting that few people
should not come and destroy what all Gambian fought for.

“We
will redouble our efforts in ensuring peace and stability continue in The
Gambia,” he said. “We need concerted effort to ensure that peace prevails. Each
and everyone one of us needs to talk to his relatives on the significance of
peace.”